Ingram the Conqueror: Saturday and Sunday April 20th and 21st, The Most Fun Weekend Ever!

While we were in Nashville having a fun girl weekend, Daddy had lots of stuff to do with the little two! Lindsey had a soccer tournament the entire weekend and Ingram had baseball stuff too. Both days consisted of running back and forth between the soccer fields and the baseball fields with 4 soccer games, one baseball game, and one baseball practice. Lindsey's team made it to the final round after playing 3 outstanding games, and ended up with silver medals. They were so excited and proud of themselves because this was their first medal and they played great the whole time. They also had red hair paint and all sprayed their hair for the tournament so they were really the "red" team! Ingram's baseball game was on Saturday in between Lindsey's two games and so that made it interesting for Craig getting them to the right spots at the right time. Ingram of course had a blast at his game and hit the ball "super hard" and ran "super fast" to all the bases. Saturday night Daddy took Ingram, Lindsey, and Olivia and Jacinta Sullivan to Russo's for dinner and it was quite entertaining! After their dinner and dropping off the Sullivan's at their house, Daddy put Lindsey and Ingram in bed in Madison's room since they begged to sleep in her bed. He went to check on them before he was going to bed and ended up crawling in bed with them and sleeping for the rest of the night because they just looked too cute snuggled up in the corner of Madison's bed.

Our Saturday consisted of sleeping in late then heading to the "fake" Parthenon as Madison called it; she has read all sorts of books about Greek Mythology and really enjoyed seeing the Parthenon and especially Athena. She was so silly and started acting out the different poses of all the statues we came across of the Greek gods and goddesses. Next we headed to another part of Nashville and met the McNally's for lunch! Ingram was a little jealous that he didn't get to see Mae, but we gave them all hugs from him. Madison and Lucy tried to listen to our (mine and Tricia) conversations the while time while Mae and Winn acted like the craziest cutest little sisters on the block! They also told us about some cute shops to go to and Madison ended up getting a few new things as an early birthday present; I think this was the first time she didn't complain about going shopping! We headed towards the Capitol and got there just in time to check out the Military Museum, the Tennessee War Memorial, and Capitol Hill before we had to head back towards our hotel. We even both rolled down "capitol hill" and got way more dizzy than on the Harry Potter roller coasters that we rode at Disney. I don't remember feeling sick after rolling down hills when I was little, but then again, this particular hill was huge and steep and I'm a lot older now! After a last stop for dinner and a few stores at Opry Mills, we headed to our hotel, went swimming, then went to bed close to 11pm again.

Sunday morning came very early for Craig and the kids, but not us! They had to be on the soccer field bright and early and were playing Lindsey's first game before we even were awake. By the time Lindsey was in her final game, we were just getting out of our hotel and making our plans for the rest of the day and our trip home. Our friends, the Rookers and the Holsingers, came over to the house and hung out with Craig and the kids before Lindsey's final game. I heard that they even talked Craig into letting Lindsey and the kids eat ice cream at home before Lindsey headed to her game (sorry about that Coach Penny!). The only bad thing about that was that Beau somehow got into the ice cream when they were in the other room and got busted on top of the counter while he was eating out of the bowl. I'm not sure what happened, but all I know is that there's one less ice cream bowl in the cabinet and it sounds like Beau might have gotten a spanking!

While Daddy was in total control of the chaos at home, we ate lunch at California Pizza Kitchen and then stopped at Sweet CeCe's for ice cream before we headed back towards home. We made a detour in Jackson to see Granny (my grandmother), but Grandmother (Craig's grandmother) had already gone back to church by the time we made it to Jackson. Mimi and Aunt Amye were there too and gave Madison her birthday presents early. We hopped back in the car and flew home because we missed Daddy, Lindsey, Ingram, and even Beau! Our weekend was great with just the two of us, but it sure was nice to get home and get hugs and kisses from the others too. Neither of us felt like cooking dinner so we headed to El Mezcal and TCBY for dinner and ice cream before all five of us passed out from exhaustion!

The thing about our three kids, and I'm sure everyone else's kids too, is that they love getting alone time with us, especially getting alone time with one of us, but it's next to impossible to do. Madison was so sweet and never complained about not getting to go on her Double Digit trip last year because of Ingram's cancer so finally getting to go our weekend away was very special. It wasn't about just getting away to get away, it was about the fact that Ingram was healthy enough for an over protective mother and an over protective big sister to leave town for a couple days. The crazy thing about being at ECS on Friday is that I saw how much Madison had physically grown up from Kindergarten (there as still a picture of her on their wall), but she has also emotionally grown up from cancer; for how difficult that has been on her as the oldest child and as the biggest sister, this weekend she was just Madison, the birthday girl, getting lots of extra overdue attention. Lindsey is already asking about her trip and all the things she wants to do when it's her turn. Even Ingram was talking about going on his trip when he gets bigger like his girls, but he couldn't decide if he wanted to go with just Mommy, just Daddy, or both of us. It's special moments like this weekend that temporarily take us away from our new reality that make me so grateful for my new reality, for my three kids, for my husband, and for everyone else that is part of our reality.

My Sweet Madison!

Madison And Her Gal Athena!

Lunch With The McNally Girls!
Winn, Mae, Lucy, And Madison

Ingram Just After He Hit Saturday!

Action Shot...Lindsey (number 8) Scoring A Goal!

Madison Once Again Immitating The Statues...This Time It's Andrew Jackson!

Saturday Night Dinner At Russo's!
Ingram, Lindsey, Olivia, And Jacinta Sullivan

Yes That Would Be Lindsey Biting Her Medal To See If It's Real Silver!
It Sounds Like Something Daddy Would Have Done!

Those Crazy Girls With Red Hair!!
Megan, Ainsley, Lindsey, Mary Kate, Coach Penny, Maya, Anna Kate, Kady Caroline, And CeCe
Way To Go U10 Germantown Legends!